Did You Know? 10 True Holiday Facts!
December 21, 2022The holidays are filled with memories created, both new and old. Gag gifts and hidden surprises, precious moments in time spent with family and friends…PRICELESS! The stockings are stuffed and meals are planned. It’s a fun time to break out the board games and engage in a little friendly competition. Our family absolutely loves Trivia games. Mom and Dad were Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune aficionados and could run Trivia circles around the rest of the family. We carry on their tradition as well as many others. I have to admit, Trivia isn't my strong point, so this year, I thought I would brush up on some facts and maybe shock the family. In researching, I ran across some interesting facts about the holidays and I sure learned a few things! Here are 10 fun and true holiday facts:
Did you know? 10 True Holiday Facts!
The holiday song Jingle Bells was originally published as “The One Horse Open Sleigh” by James Lord Pierpont in 1857 and was a Thanksgiving song. Jingle Bells was the first song to be broadcast/played in outer space. It was played by astronauts aboard Gemini 6 in 1965.
Potato pancakes, known as Latke, are a holiday tradition for Hanukkah celebrations. Latkes can be made with other ingredients other than potatoes, including zucchini, cheese, onion and other veggies.
In Japan, it is a popular tradition to eat Kentucky Fried Chicken for Christmas. This tradition is so popular that KFC orders have to be placed up to two months in advance.
Candy canes! There are a few folklores as to how candy canes were invented and why. One legend has its origins dated back to 1670 in Germany, when a choirmaster had the idea of giving sugar sticks to the children during worship services in an effort to keep them quiet. To justify his actions, he asked a local candy maker to add a crook to the sugar sticks to symbolize the shepherds who visited the infant Jesus. Yet another legend traces the origins back to Germany and touts that the candy cane was shaped into a “J” for Jesus Christ. More than 1.76 billion candy canes are produced in the United States annually.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was originally a 1939 advertising gimmick for Montgomery Ward.
X-mas is not really an abbreviation for Christmas. The truth is that the X actually stands for “Chi,” meaning Christ in Greek.
The Kwanzaa holiday was created by a California professor, Dr. Maulana Karenga in 1966 in an effort to bring African Americans together as a community after the infamous Watts Riots. The word Kwanzaa is derived from the phrase “matunda ya kwanza” which means “first fruits” in Swahili. Families celebrate Kwanzaa with drums, songs, dances, poetry and traditional meals for seven days, beginning December 26 through to January 1st.
The first President to put up an official White House Christmas tree was Franklin Pierce. He was the 14th President of the United States. (1853-1857).
Despite the commercials and marketing campaigns claiming that Black Friday is the busiest shopping day of the year, the truth is that honor belongs to the two days just before Christmas day.
The first artificial Christmas trees were created in Germany in the 1800s and made from dyed goose feathers.
Tammy J. Colter is an OH staff writer and has proudly served the ObesityHelp community since 1999, helping members and professionals alike. Tammy wears many hats at ObesityHelp, she works as an author, editor, and account manager. Read more articles by Tammy!
